With tensions increasing between the United States and Iran, concerns have begun to arise over Iranian "smart concrete," which officials believe may be able to withstand US bunker busters should military operations become a reality.

The government of Iran has garnered a lot of negative international attention in recent times. When the country’s outspoken President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, isn’t making provocative remarks to the media, the Islamic republic has come under increasing scrutiny over accusations of uranium enrichment for not-so-peaceful purposes. However, it appears that uranium may not be the only technology being developed by the Iranian’s that is causing American officials anxiety.

According to a recent article in the Economist, Iran happens to be good, very good, at developing what is known as “ultra-high performance concrete” (UHPC). Because of its geographical position, the county is under constant threat of earthquakes. The most devastating earthquake in recent memory occurred in the city of Bam, located in southern Iran, and claimed the lives of 30,000 people. As a result, Iranian engineers have developed – out of necessity – some of the toughest and most rigid building materials in the world.

So how does Iranian concrete standout? Well, unlike conventional concrete, Iranian concrete is mixed with quartz powder and special fibers – transforming it into high performance concrete that can withstand higher pressure with increased rigidity. What this all translates to is excellent building material given the environment that has found peaceful applications like the construction of safer bridges, dams, tunnels, increasing the strength of sewage pipes, and even absorbing pollution.

Why so much fuss over Iranian concrete? According to the article, US defense secretary Leon Panetta is worried that should a conflict escalate, American bunker-busters may not be able to penetrate Iran’s deepest bunkers should UHPC be employed for military purposes.

And therein lays the issue with any dual-use technologies that carry both civilian and military applications. Technology like UHPC could be used to protect underground facilities from bombardment, which could pose a real headache for military endeavors into Iran.

Of course should tensions continue to rise, military operations into Iran become a reality, and penetrating underground bunkers prove problematic, America’s Defence Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) — an organization that has been investigating UHPC since 2008 – says that various other avenues could be explored such as deploying robotic warhead-carrying snakes, destroying electrical systems, or bombing entrances to these facilities shut. With any luck though, it won’t come to that.

Iran is a beautiful place with a great culture. I seriously hope US doesnot bomb it.

The US won't need to, Israel will take care of that. Iran is aggressively pursuing nuclear weapons development--that much is clear--and it knows that once it gets nukes, the US won't fuck with it (just look at how we treat Pakistan and North Korea). Iran has also publicly said it is going to wipe Israel off of the Earth. Israel also knows that, unlike the United States, it would only take one, very minor nuclear explosion to take out Tel Aviv, which would result is the downfall of the entire country.

Israel has no choice.

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, the other to the Lord.

Looking back at the footprints in the sand, he noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life. This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it.

The Lord replied, "My son, My precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

My guess is that we will step out of the way, and depending on how threatening Iran actually looks to the general American population, it will either "condemn" the attack, or sell/give Israel weapons.

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, the other to the Lord.

Looking back at the footprints in the sand, he noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life. This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it.

The Lord replied, "My son, My precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

The US won't need to, Israel will take care of that. Iran is aggressively pursuing nuclear weapons development--that much is clear--and it knows that once it gets nukes, the US won't fuck with it (just look at how we treat Pakistan and North Korea). Iran has also publicly said it is going to wipe Israel off of the Earth. Israel also knows that, unlike the United States, it would only take one, very minor nuclear explosion to take out Tel Aviv, which would result is the downfall of the entire country.

Israel has no choice.

thats petty scary but it does make sense

I feel we would step in way before that happened however. All the more reason why we will invade BEFORE hey get too far with the nukes.

well OBVIOUSLY sid... if they had nuclear weapons AND one of the largest land armys in the world they couldnt be bullied... and then like north korea you might have someone that didnt fall into line with big corporations view of the world.

Govt induced paranoia at its finest. So israel can have nuclear weapons and iran cant?

I'm not saying it is right or wrong--just that Israel WILL attack Iran, and probably sooner rather than later. I don't think the US will invade though--we don't have the stomach or the resources to get into another protracted war.

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, the other to the Lord.

Looking back at the footprints in the sand, he noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life. This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it.

The Lord replied, "My son, My precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, the other to the Lord.

Looking back at the footprints in the sand, he noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life. This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it.

The Lord replied, "My son, My precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

As I said, depending on how it looks from a PR perspective when Israel strikes and when it happens (e.g. after the general election where Obama wins), we will either "condemn" the action (irrelevant for both sides because Israel already hates Obama) if Iran looks weak and helpless and it is after Obama has already won the general election, or we will support Israel from a distance by providing weaponry and tactical support (but we won't get involved directly).

There will be some upset Arabs, but nothing will come of it because no one really likes Iran anyway (they probably see them as just as big a threat as everyone else) and the Middle East is in a clusterfuck now and could not possibly organize an coordinated offensive. If they did Israel would crush them.

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, the other to the Lord.

Looking back at the footprints in the sand, he noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life. This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it.

The Lord replied, "My son, My precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."